In light of all the discussion, etc. regarding SUSPIRIA and our announcement last year that we were trying to get a 2K scan of original materials, I've decided to give you all a quick update. It's been a long, very hard, road to get where we are today with this project but this picture speaks much louder than any words (from us, or from those who think they know all there is to know about us) right now. More info to come soon enough, but we're ready to knock your socks off in 2015.
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Our journey has JUST begun... But considering all the red tape (no pun intended with the content of this picture, of course) that we had to go through, we're relieved we have finally gotten this far. We could write an entire book on what has happened in the last year to get where we are today with this.
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Right now, my goal is to analyze the 4K scan files, get them QC'd, assembled, base corrected and see how much restoration may be necessary on the neg, since it hasn't really been touched in a while. Technicolor was pleased with the results, but I have to have a look myself as soon as possible... I'm excited to get started. This is going to be the project of my lifetime, I think. My bucket list movie. I havent been this excited since doing NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
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Scanning the original SUSPIRIA camera negative in 4K came out to around 12TB of data... And we have to make sure we have it backed up (more than a FEW times).

Interesting observations about SUSPIRIA after two days. First, it is the most difficult project I've ever done in my career. Second, the original negative will require extensive restoration. There are tears, dirt, splices, scratches and printed in fingerprints all over it, which begs the question: What did they use in 2007 for that blown out transfer? This doesn't look like the same element they used and, if it is, then someone severely damaged it since they scanned it. Also, who has the original Italian opening credits negative, because it is gone from the vault? We recreated the titles using the original title transparencies that WERE still on file in the vault, thankfully. The 2007 master does have extensive DNR restoration corruption (along with the blown out highlights), but there is much more severe damage to the negative that doesn't seem present on the old master. Third, it looks like all previous transfers in 2.35:1 have been zoomed in slightly to remove splice marks, glue, etc. The film frames perfectly, with more info showing on all four sides on ours, in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, which JUUUUUSST hides the majority of bottom splices that were visible in 2.39:1.
This is exhilarating, challenging, fun and it's going to look awesome.

Synpase wrote:TENEBRAE update from Don. No release date set for that or PHENOMENA. Still work to be done on the supplements. SUSPIRIA also still in production (undergoing a 4k scan), but the hope is to have all three titles out in 2015. That said, no release dates will be announced until these titles are actually finished.
For more detailed discussion on TENEBRAE, please look at the comments on this post on Don's personal page.

Don May Jr. wrote:Final QC file sent of TENEBRAE (and "finally" successfully received via my shitty internet connection). Literally thousands of frame fixes done compared to the previous Wild Side France and Arrow Steelbook Blu-ray versions. I think fans will be enormously pleased. This took months to do, and the amount of work was an expensively insane restoration feat, so that surely means our insanely expensive restorations will again be ignored by the Rondo Awards next year, too!

Checking out PHENOMENA'S "CREEPERS" CUT for the first time, in the offices of Red Shirt Pictures today! Specs and dates for PHENOMENA to be announced in the future, once we finalize a major possible extra. Working on it...

Working on PHENOMENA today. Don May and his team are working on rebuilding the 116 min Italian/English hybrid version. Instead of just repeating music sections to make them fit, we are building using Italian track, English track, incomplete CREEPERS DMEs and original CDs to make the mix work better than the existing versions of the hybrid cut. 8 hours gone and only 40 minutes in so far. Tedious work that will certainly be ignored when nominations for the Rondos come out next year.

No release date set at this time, but we hope to have it out by year's end.

Their releases of the two Demons films shaved away all extras bar the trailers and english language audio, so I'd imagine if you're interested in the extras, you'd want to spring for the steelbook edition.
The standard edition of those films came out about a year later.

UPDATE, I don't know how to link to Synapse's facebook posts or comments, but Synapse has confirmed that they currently have no plans to do a regular Blu Ray edition of Tenebre.

This is so tempting, yet it's just on the edge of what I want to pay for it. I might just go for it, even though its not my favorite Argento. The Giallo doc looks great. Does anyone else find the English dubs on Argento's films kind of charming, though?

They've also confirmed that their upcoming Phenomena will include a soundtrack CD as well as three (??) different cuts of the film.

I wouldn't normally care since I own the remastered Arrow, but I have heard that this will be better. Let's hope Amazon or DVDPlanet carries it, but I will probably hold off until I see actual screencaps of the release.

I'm a huge Argento fan but for now the latest Arrow BD will be good enough. With the low canadian dollar it would cost me 70$ to have Synapse's edition of TENEBRAE shipped here. For that price I could buy an awesome Arrow box set, 3 MoC releases or a couple of Criterions, so there's no way I can justify it.

I understand that Synapse have done a lot of work on their release but it's way, way too expensive.

Well perhaps I exaggerated a bit. I would pay 30$ for a single movie if it was a special edition or a movie I absolutely love. I just paid about 40$ for the new DEEP RED release with no regrets. I must have been talking about the Twilight Time model of barebones releases?

According to Don May Jr's instagram, they are shooting for a late summer release date for Phenomena and Suspiria will also have a soundtrack CD

davidxclayton: How long until the Phenomena blus drop?
donmayjr: Later this year. Maybe end of summer. We had delays with Warner Brothers holding up material we needed, but all seems good now. Vincent Pereira is going over the final audio, and I'm gearing up for another CD for this release, too.
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davidxclayton: Will always support your releases cause they are the highest of quality. Any chance of Suspiria getting a CD release too?
donmayjr: David, we are working in that. Yes!

With Don May revealing recently they still had a box or two of the Demons steelbooks in their warehouse I'm surprised they went this route again. It turns an already over priced product into something that just isn't worth the money for non US customers.
I went to order Tenebrae from Diabolik but it came to over £50. Too high when I have the Arrow steel already.

I might go for Phenomena and Suspiria but it would be great if they released a cheaper version in regular packaging as an option for international customers. They could do 2000 steel and 1000 regular. The steels are nice but add too much to the price

If you want a copy of Synapse's Tenebrae Blu-ray you should order it ASAP:

TENEBRAE Steelbook – Low Quantity Alert

Hi folks! As of today, we are happy to report that our TENEBRAE Steelbook inventory is now down to less than 500 units (around 470, really), after approximately 60 days since the February release date. Just wanted to post this alert for those of you who may still want to get a copy. Overseas customers may want to contact DiabolikDVD.com and order one, to make sure you can still get a copy shipped to you. The TENEBRAE Steelbook has been a rousing success for Synapse and we want to thank you all for your continued support.

I realize this is disappointing for those who go out to support the steelbooks but from a selfish point of view I really prefer them to release affordable versions that people outside of the US can get. Those steelbooks can be pretty punishing for Canadians, especially with the exchange rate being what it is and them only being sold in US outlets.

I don't mind that they are releasing the same disc in an unlimited edition (I still would have bought the steelbook even if they had announced that they were going to release a regular edition, just as I'll buy the steelbook for Phenomena and, in 2025, the steelbook for Suspiria ) it was them constantly saying that the steelbook was going to be it.

Apparently neither Don May or Jerry Chandler have anything to do with the Synapse social media, so this all was a misunderstanding by the PR guy who runs it.